Magic Works
by beware of trips
Summary: oneshot set during DH. After returning from the winter holidays to find Luna is still missing, Neville and Ginny discuss their missing friends.


Authors Note – Be kind everyone, please. This is the first time I've posted something on here in over four years. This isn't meant to be a Neville/Ginny fic (I'm a Neville/Luna fan for life, sorry!), but you can certainly take it that way if you wish. It was inspiration of reading too many "What did Neville, Luna, and Ginny do while the trio was away during DH?" and watching the GoF movie too many times.

Magic Works 

Few people had ever seen Ginny Weasley cry.

Neville Longbottom didn't know how to feel over being one of those few.

The two had just spent several long hours searching up and down the Hogwarts Express, searching for their friend Luna Lovegood. Two weeks early, as the trio prepared to board the train to go home for the holidays, three large men (Death Eaters, Neville thought with despair) had taken Luna away, claiming her father was waiting for her in Hogsmeade. Several curses had been thrown, but the fight proved futile. Three men took off restraining Luna. Although it was quite an optimistic thought, what with the war and all, they had both hoped Luna would somehow be returning to Hogwarts, come the end of break.

Neville sighed. It had been the worse holiday of his life. And Ginny's hadn't looked much better. Without discussing it, the two walked past all the students crowding into the Great Hall and made their way up to their Common Room. Sure, they would probably be thrown in detention for missing a meal (the Carrows were great over punishing people for absolutely nothing after all), the thought of yet another missing friend was far too sickening to eat over.

It was, as Neville sat down on couch nearest to the fire, that Ginny laid her head on his shoulder and began to sob. Neville, never having been around a crying girl, much less expected to comfort one, awkwardly placed his hand on her back and stroked her. He was quite glad, as he knew Ginny was, that everyone else was at dinner and unable to witness this moment.

"I know how you feel," Neville gulped. "I miss her too. More than you'd imagine."

Ginny wiped her face, but kept her head where it was. "Oh, it's not just Luna, Neville… it's everything. They're gone. No word for months. They could be dead, for all we know."

There was no need to ask whom she was referring to. Neville moved his hand to her hair and combed through it. "They're fine, Ginny. They're all alive and well. You know that as well as I do."

She sniffled. "They're not dead. Somehow… I just think we'd know if they were."

Neville nodded. He knew exactly what she was talking about. He grinned in spite of himself. "Plus, I think it'll take a lot more than some pathetic Death Eaters to take down Harry Potter."

Caught off guard, Ginny smiled. "But what about someone like my brother?" As quickly as her smile came, it fell off her face. "How can I even joke in a time like this? I'm an awful person."

"No, you're not," Neville stated firmly, using some of the confidence he had found himself more than capable of in the past few months. "We're good people, Ginny, you hear that? Good people. After all, someone has to keep up the fight back home while they're out doing… whatever it is they're doing."

She nodded. "You… you think they've accomplished anything yet? The mission they've set out to do?"

"God, I hope so."

Ginny gulped back the rest of her tears and Neville threw his arm around her. He was quite surprised at how comfortable he was around her.

"I really miss Harry," Ginny said with a sense of longing in her voice.

"I really miss… hell, I really miss all of them."

"You know, I think it might be easier to just be a Muggle sometimes."

"How so?"

She shrugged. "Everything just seems so easier for them. I mean, of course you need to do all little tasks yourself and such, but in the bigger picture it just seems like such a simpler life."

Neville thought for a bit before replying. "Ginny, I'm sorry, but isn't thinking Muggles are simple just the thing this war is about? Muggles aren't any less than we are."

"Oh, Neville I didn't mean it like –"

"I know what you meant, it's ok. Sometimes I wonder if it'd be easier to just wipe your memory and go live in their world. Just forget about magic and Hogwarts and everything all together. But… we have a gift, Ginny. We're wizards." She gave him small glared. "And witches, and witches. But, we have a gift not everyone has. We can do magic and… I think we should appreciate that. Although, mind you this is coming from the worthless kid who thought he was a Squib until he was nine."

"You're not worthless, Neville. Not at all."

He only nodded.

The two sat in silence and watched the fire. It was about a half hour later that students finally started emerging from dinner and entering the Common Room. While the noise level increased greatly from when the two were alone, it never seemed to get at loud as it had in past years. Even the person who had turned on the WWN seemed to keep the volume low.

Seamus gave Neville a wink as he walked past them, and Neville only rolled his eyes. Seamus really didn't get it sometimes. It wasn't like that between Ginny and him, and it never would be. There was only one girl Neville could consider being like _that_ with. And now she was gone. Taken God knows where by a pack of Death Eaters.

Several fellow Gryffindors students approached the two and asked how their holiday had been, and one or two even stayed for a bit to chat. Eventually the crowd began to fade (as well as the noise level decreasing from previous years, it seemed the rate of people staying up later had as well) and the two were left almost as alone as they had been earlier.

"I want things to be back to the way they were," said Ginny. "I don't really like playing hero… I just want this war to be over with. I want Harry back here, I want Ron back home, I…"

"Don't ," Neville cut her off before she could upset herself again. "Maybe, maybe we shouldn't be talking about this anymore."

"We can't just pretend this isn't going on. We need to do something Neville! More than what we've been doing!"

"We tried to steal Godric Gryffindor's sword from Snape's office and you're saying we don't do anything?"

"Shh!" Ginny sat up suddenly. "Do you hear what it is?"

Before Neville even tried to strain his ears to hear what she was talking about, Ginny rushed up and turned up the volume on the Wizard Wireless. The Weird Sister's song Magic Works was right in the middle of the chorus.

"_Believe that magic works _

_Don't be afraid _

_Afraid of being hurt _

_No, don't let _

_This magic die _

_Oh, the answer's there _

_Yeah, just look in her eyes"_

"Oh no!" Neville laughed. "This song, really Ginny?

She only laughed and took her seat back next to him. "Come now. Didn't we agree this would be our song?"

"All we did was dance to it at the Yule Ball. We danced to a lot of songs that night."

"But it's was our last song. My favorite, mind you. Only time you didn't step on my feet the whole night."

He cringed. "Well, true as that may be-"

She shushed him and they listened in silence.

"_And don't believe that magic can die _

_No, no, no, this magic can't die _

_So dance _

_Your final dance _

'_Cause this is _

_Your final chance"_

"Do me a favor, will you?" asked Neville.

"Anything."

"Tell Harry I took good care of you while he was away."

"Do you… do you think he'll be back soon?"

He paused. "Before the school year is up, I'm sure of it."

Ginny didn't question it, but she knew he was right. Somehow. "Of course."


End file.
